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The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies conducted a telephone survey from 27 May to 14 June 2022 to study the popularity of the HKSAR Government. The major findings are:

Satisfaction with the HKSAR Government.  According to the survey, 17.9% of the 710 respondents expressed satisfaction with the HKSAR Government, 43.8% said they were dissatisfied and 37.3% answered ‘in-between’. The corresponding figures for April 2022 were 13.5%, 46.8% and 38.5% respectively. The statistical analysis (chi-square test) shows that the results for May 2022 were not statistically significantly different from those for April 2022. However, when comparing the May 2022 figures with those from May 2021, the difference in percentage distribution was statistically significant.

Rating of Chief Executive Carrie Lam.  The survey in May 2022 indicated that Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s performance rating (on a point scale ranging from 0 to 100, with 50 as the pass mark) stood at 34.6 on average, slightly higher than that in April 2022 (33.6). The statistical significance test (t-test) showed that the mean difference between the ratings in May 2022 and April 2022 was not statistically significant. When comparing her current rating (34.6) with that of May 2021 (30.0), the mean difference was statistically significant.

Ratings of Financial Secretary and Secretary for Justice.  The ratings of Financial Secretary (Paul Chan) and Secretary for Justice (Teresa Cheng) in the May 2022 survey were 44.3 and 29.0 respectively. The corresponding figures in April 2022 were 42.7 and 26.9 respectively. No statistically significant difference was found between ratings of the two Secretaries in May 2022 and April 2022. When their ratings in May 2022 were compared with the respective figures in May 2021, they were higher than those for last year, with statistically significant differences.

Trust in the HKSAR Government.  As of May 2022, 21.0% of the respondents said they trusted the HKSAR Government and 33.2% expressed distrust; 42.1% answered ‘in-between’. The results in April 2022 were 19.7%, 30.8% and 45.2% respectively. No statistically significant difference was found in trust in the HKSAR Government between May 2022 and April 2022. However, when comparing the figures in the current survey with those of the same month last year, the difference between May 2022 (Trust: 21.0%; Distrust: 33.2%) and May 2021 (Trust: 16.9%; Distrust: 47.7%) was statistically significant.

Trust in the Central Government.  Regarding the level of trust in the Central Government in May 2022, 24.7% said they trusted it, 35.4% answered the opposite and 29.9% said ‘in-between’. The respective figures in April 2022 were 21.4%, 37.5% and 31.9%. No statistically significant difference was found between May 2022 and April 2022. However, the difference between the percentages in May 2022 (Trust: 24.7%; Distrust: 35.4%) and May 2021 (Trust: 18.7%; Distrust: 54.1%) was statistically significant.

In conclusion, the survey results indicate that all the popularity indices (the public satisfaction level with the government’s performance, the performance ratings of the Chief Executive and the two Secretaries, and trust in the HKSAR Government and the Central Government) were not significantly different from those in April 2022 (all the significance tests show the differences are not statistically significant). However, when compared with the survey conducted in May 2021, all the popularity indices in the current survey this year were found to be significantly higher than those last year (significance tests also show the differences are all statistically significant).

The survey employed a dual-frame sampling design that included both landline and mobile phone numbers. A total of 710 respondents aged 18 or above (landline: 350; mobile: 360) were successfully interviewed, with response rates of 26.4% (landline) and 28.1% (mobile). The sampling error for the sample size of 710 is estimated at plus or minus 3.68 percentage points at a 95% confidence level. Furthermore, the data in this survey was weighted based on the probability of the respondents being selected via dual-frame sampling design and relevant age-sex distribution of the population published by the Census and Statistics Department before analysis.